Dear Lobster: Why Must You Taste So Good? |
| Print | |
A few months ago I tried lobster. I remember having lobster once as a young child out on the East Coast on one of those summer trips with the family. I didn't love it. To be honest, I didn't like it at all. I was aware that it was insanely expensive by the pained look on my mother's face when we ordered. I was also less than impressed by the amount of work it took to get a bite of any actual lobster -- too much effort, not enough pay off. I distinctly remember being totally disgusted by the greenish brown guts inside that made me think of my own intestines. That's probably why it took me another decade (or two) to muster up the nerve to give it another shot. Well, like so many other culinary pleasures that I've only discovered in adulthood, lobster did not disappoint. My goodness -- the smooth silky texture, the faint sea taste, the general heartiness of it -- lobster is amazing! And hold on: you get to dip it in garlic butter? Lobster, where have you been my entire life?!
It turns out there is a lot of uncertainty in both the scientific and the culinary worlds as to whether there is a humane way to kill a lobster. Forgetting for a moment the various moral, religious, political arguments against eating lobster at all, I had to wonder, is there a way to do it that could keep my conscience clean? It seems that the jury is out on that question. Studies have indicated that lobsters lack the basic pain receptors and neurology in their nervous system necessary to sense pain in the first place.
My grandma lives in Vancouver and belongs to a Buddhist Church. One day, she and her church friends were discussing the types of things most grandmothers like to talk about -- grandchildren, coupons, applesauce, Murder, She Wrote, and so on. Gradually, the topic of conversation turned to the lobster tank at a local Chinese restaurant the ladies often frequented. The discussion became heated when one grandmother pointed out killing those live lobsters for dinner was not the most Buddha-like behaviour. The grandmothers agreed. My grandma took it to the next level and suggested they go buy the lobsters themselves and set them free. Excited by the bold brazenness of it all, the grandmothers immediately made their way to the Chinese restaurant and promptly ordered all of the remaining lobsters in the tank. The owner had to provide them with plastic garbage bag to carry the lobsters since their plans had overlooked how they would get the lobsters from the tank to their long-awaited freedom. Back in another grandma's car, with the lobsters stowed safely in the trunk, the grandmas drove straight to the nearest beach. My grandma helped another grandma dump the lobster-filled bag into the ocean. At last, the lobsters were liberated, and free in the Pacific! The ladies felt great about what they had done, and proudly shared their story with me when they returned. I felt it was only polite not to mention that the grandmothers had failed to remove the elastic bands holding their claws together. Similarly, I didn't tell them that clawed lobsters don't live in the Pacific Ocean. At least their hearts were in the right place! 
Subscribe to this comment's feed
© 2009 - 2013 Culture Magazine. Design by Web Design Ottawa
Dear Lobster: Why Must You Taste So Good? |
| Print | |
© 2009 - 2013 Culture Magazine. Design by Web Design Ottawa